The gods have broken free after centuries of slavery, and the world holds its breath, fearing their vengeance. The saga of mortals and immortals continues in The Broken Kingdoms. In the city of Shadow, beneath the World Tree, alleyways shimmer with magic and godlings live hidden among mortalkind. Oree Shoth, a blind artist, takes in a homeless man who glows like a living sun to her strange sight. This act of kindness engulfs Oree in a nightmarish conspiracy.

Your Likes make Audible better!

Publisher's Summary

The gods have broken free after centuries of slavery, and the world holds its breath, fearing their vengeance. The saga of mortals and immortals continues in The Broken Kingdoms. In the city of Shadow, beneath the World Tree, alleyways shimmer with magic and godlings live hidden among mortalkind. Oree Shoth, a blind artist, takes in a homeless man who glows like a living sun to her strange sight.

This act of kindness engulfs Oree in a nightmarish conspiracy.

Someone, somehow, is murdering godlings, leaving their desecrated bodies all over the city. Oree's peculiar guest is at the heart of it, his presence putting her in mortal danger - but is it him the killers want, or Oree? And is the earthly power of the Arameri king their ultimate goal, or have they set their sights on the Lord of Night himself?

This series is set in an invented world in which gods and their offspring walk or live among human beings, something like Greek mythology. There is something very fresh about Jemisin's approach to the genre. In this book, the narrator is a blind street artist who is only able to see magic, which she perceives as glowing light, or her own paintings. A narrator who can't see most of the action makes for a challenging portal through which to explore a strange world, but the author makes it work, playing off the tension between what Ori can't perceive and the heightened perceptions of her other senses. Also she's vulnerable, a very humble, down-to-earth person, so she also "sees" the social order of the novel from a perspective that all the more powerful characters cannot. This one is not in the least predictable. The narrator occasionally seems to be in over her head, but mostly does fine. I frequently found myself lingering over chores and even extending my gym workouts because I was so eager to hear what happened next.

Yes. The story itself is great, and the perspective is original and rare.

What did you like best about this story?

I loved the main character and her discovery of the nasty underbelly of Shadow.

Which scene was your favorite?

My favorite scene was the climactic confrontation in the Empty.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The ending moved me.

Any additional comments?

The narrator's tone when she read the dialogue often didn't match the dialogue description. For example, she wouldn't loudly say, "I hate you!" followed by "she whispered." It took me out of story a lot, especially in the beginning. It was frustrating.

I have no regrets for reading this book. The author does a good job (as far as I, a non blind person can tell) of portraying a set of experiences from a blind person's perspective. You have to read it after the first book, but that's not such a bad thing. I'll probably listen to it again down the road. Another thing: the narrator adds a lot to the book. I highly suggest you pick this up.

I would recommend this audiobook to a friend. The world-building within the novel is excellent. It is a standalone book within the series (as all three of the novels are, I have heard) so you don't have to read its predecessor to know what's going on. The romance is subtle most of the time, but it's believable and enjoyable.

What did you like best about this story?

The plot is intricately woven at parts. The characters grow and change in believable ways. I began the novel heavily disliking one character for many reasons, but two-thirds of the way through, I learned to understand him and he became one of my favorite characters. There's such a depth to the story that you feel like you need time between listens to unravel what's going on.

Any additional comments?

I highly enjoyed the voices that Casaundra Freeman gave the characters. Some male characters had similar voices to each other, but every important character had an easily distinguishable, believable voice. Her narration style perfectly fits the first person narration style of the main character Oree.

My one recommendation to future listeners is to look up the names of the most important characters within the novel while listening to the audiobook. A few names were difficult to understand because of their fantasy nature until I saw them in writing.

This book is full of action, interesting ideas, and further explores the world first shown to us in the Hundred Thousand Kingdoms. In that book a lot of things changed, and here is a view from outside of the noble houses.

Your report has been received. It will be reviewed by Audible and we will take appropriate action.

Can't wait to hear more from this listener?

You can now follow your favorite reviewers on Audible.

When you follow another listener, we'll highlight the books they review, and even email* you a copy of any new reviews they write. You can un-follow a listener at any time to stop receiving their updates.

* If you already opted out of emails from Audible you will still get review emails by the listeners you follow.